By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Friday July 2, 2021
Maria Camila Osorio Serrano’s first Wimbledon experience ended today with a 6-0, 6-3 defeat at the hands of No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka, but the Colombian teenager has a lot to be happy about. She qualified for the main draw, won two rounds, and will rise to a career-high ranking of about 80 in the WTA rankings after Wimbledon.
For a woman that wasn’t confident in her abilities at the professional level when the year started, it’s really quite amazing.
Osorio Serrano, who will turn 20 in December, told Tennis Now that she was struggling to win matches at the 25k ITF level in January. She was barely inside the Top 200 at the time.
"A few months back in January I was playing 25Ks, I was in losing in quarterfinals and thiking 'I'm not winning these tournaments, I'm not where I want to be,'" she said.
But after winning the title on home soil in Columbia, a semifinal at Charleston, and a run to the main draw through qualifying at Roland Garros, the Colombian is proving she belongs at the pro level.
After her loss to Sabalenka today she was asked what the biggest lesson she had learned in 2021 was.
"When you do something with your heart and you really work and give everything to make it come true, you can make it - nothing is impossible,” she said.
Osorio Serrano became the first Colombian to reach the third round at Wimbledon since 1974 with wins over Anna Kalinskaya and Ekaterina Alexandrova, and she proved that she can play some excellent tennis on the grass.
That comes as a surprise to many, because the 2019 US Open Girls Singles champion had never been past the third round at Wimbledon juniors in three appearances, but not to Osorio Serrano.
"I really loved it, actually when I played on grass for the first time, It was in 2017 I think,” she said. “It was really fun, it was different, I love it because as you can see I like drop shots and slice and playing around. I remember from the first moment that I played I really enjoyed it and I wanted to come back."
True to form, Osorio Serrano threw in a joke to punctuate her statement.
"Now that I'm here, probably it's my surface," she said, laughing. "I'm going to change, I'm going to start playing here and practicing here."
It was funny, but in all serious, watch out for Osorio Serrano on the grass in the years to come. If her debut in 2021 is any indication we could be seeing lots more from her in the future at Wimbledon.